Because of being rejected, thereafter, through inquiries, attempts were made to find the home of Crepes Clair, hoping to make progress, more precisely, by persuading that old lady to change Crepes Clair's mind.

It was quite possible. Duke Crepes knew Clair's name, and knowing her strength, it was easy to ask around from passersby. Although there could be others with the same name, that specific characteristic was almost unique to her. With the name and the characteristic, that was already enough to pinpoint a person's identity.

Although it is unknown what the two said at that time, there was a more important question.

Firstly, Crepes Clair and the old lady might live in somewhat remote areas, but it could be confirmed that they were not completely isolated. This means, if someone visited the old lady, people around would definitely know, especially a middle-aged man dressed in noble clothing would stand out in that impoverished area.

Since that was the case, those who saw him couldn't possibly not mention it to Clair, out of curiosity or goodwill. But the truth is...

The fact that this was not mentioned earlier was because it was deemed irrelevant and deliberately left out?

Although it was highly likely that it was omitted on purpose, the reason was probably not trivial. After all, Clair would have noticed later on, realizing why that old lady knew so much. Once that realization occurred, Clair couldn't ignore this question. In the end, even if people around didn't mention it, she would proactively ask them, but the outcome remained the same.

Which is to say, the possibility of Clair not knowing that Duke Crepes had visited the old lady was close to zero, so the question arises.

Why would she deliberately conceal it?

No, upon further contemplation, or looking at it from a different perspective, perhaps the answer might surprisingly be simple.

Just as mentioned earlier, while not knowing what Duke Crepes and the old lady discussed, at least from Clair's perspective, it was precisely because Duke Crepes personally visited the old lady that she contemplated suicide, which the old lady herself had mentioned. In other words, the root cause of the old lady's suicide was Duke Crepes himself - although not directly killing her, he indirectly drove her to it, as the old lady had also stated that without that incident, she might have lived longer and not resorted to suicide.

While the reality might not be exactly as perceived, at least for Clair, that was the truth.

Therefore, based on this premise, if one were to delve deeper, Clair's next actions after learning about this incident would likely be related to why she intentionally concealed it.

In this case, the answer would be...

Revenge? After finding out that the old lady was indirectly killed by Duke Crepes, perhaps Clair's decision to disobey her mother's dying wish and voluntarily become Duke Crepes' foster daughter was motivated by revenge. Although part of the reason was the old lady's dying request, the more significant reason was likely revenge. If indeed it was revenge, then concealing the truth was indeed necessary.

It all makes sense now.